Combined ore feeder, sampler, classifier, and separator.



H. G. KING. GOMBINED ORE FEEDER, SAMPLER, OLASSI-I'IER, AND SEPARATOR.

APPLICATION FILED 1330.28, 1908.

Patented Jan. 18, 1910.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

H. G.'KING.' COMBINED ORE FEEDER, SAMPLBR, ULASSIFIER, AND SEPABATOR.APPLIUATION I'ILED DEC. 2B, 1906.

946,759. Patented Jan. 18, 1910.

2 SHBETSSHBET S.

HOWARD G. KING, OF DENVER, COLORADO.

COMBINED ORE FEEDER, SAMPLER, CL'ASSIFIER, AND SEPARATOR.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1,.HowanoG. KINo,a citizen. of the United States ofAmerica, residing in the city and county of Denver and State ofColorado, have invented a new iowi-ng is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in ore dressing machinery, and theobjects of iny invention are: First,.to1provide a combined are feedingand sampling, classifying and mineral saving machine. Second, to providea crushed: ore feeder, classifier, and separator, that is especially.adapted to separate the finely pulverizedand powdered element ofores,thatform ia fioat-ing slime product when mixed with or fed into a bodyof water or into a chemical solution, such as a cyan-id solution, fromthe coarser particles of crushed ores. And third,to provide a simple:and inexpensive machine that will separate the dry slime products ofore-s from the top of the surface of a body of flowing water land thatwill classify and separate the coarse mineral particles of crushed oresfrom. thegangue products of ores. 'I attain these objects by themechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1, is an end view ofthe machine. Fig. 2, is a verticalsectionalview thereof, on the line 22 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3, isra sectionalplan view, on the line 33 ofFig. 1. Fig. 1-, is an enlarged, detailplanview of the water Idistributing disk, the water reservoir, samplechamber, and pipes connecting the main water supply pipe withthe saidreservoir. And Fig. 5, is a bottom plan view of the ore feeding disk.

Similar letters of reference refercto similar parts throughout theseveral views.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 1,:designates the supportingframe of my machine. This frame is preferably constructed of metal anglebars 2, and is substantially rectangular in form, although it may bemade of any other form. and of any other suitable :material. ,To this.frame I secure aconical shaped tank 3, in any suitable manner, and thesmaller -end of this tank is provided with a discharge spout 5, towhich.a valve or gate 6. is secured, which may be of any suitable type.Within the tank3, I placeaa second conical tank 7, which 1s enoughsmaller than the tank 3 to leave an annular concentrates recelvlngSpecification of Letters Patent.

Application filed December 28, 1908.

Patented *Jan. 18, 1910.

Serial No. 469,630.

chamberbetween them. The inner tank? is provided with a discharge spout8, at its lower end which extends through the tank 3, and asuitablevalve or .gate 9 is placed ontheend of the spout 8. Thistank 7is securedby brackets 10 to the outer tank 3. A supporting bar 11 issecured iacross the tank 7, intermediate of its upper ;and lower ends,which-isprovided with abeariing 12, whichsupports the lower endof ashort pipe 13,upon the upper end of which is screwed an elbow-14, intheupper endof which is screwed .a short'length of pipe 15, upon the endof=-which isscrewed a reducer 16, having aplurality of. openings 17 inits surface midway between its ends. the purpose of which will beexplained hereinafter. In the upper end. of this reducer is screwed thelower,.plugged, end'of a water supply pipelS, which extends up above thetop. of the machine :and connects with a supply of water, a valve 19being; arranged; at a convenient point inthe pipe beyond the top vof themachine, for regulating or cutting off the supply of water. Around thiswater pipe I rotatably mount a.feed tube 20, the upper portion of whichis supported in. a

hub bearing 21, which rests upon the top of bars 22, which are attachedto standards 23, supported upon the main frameywhile the lower portionof this tube extends through a circular aperture in a ball bearing plate24, whichis secured upon bars 25, attached to the standards .23. A bevelgear 26 is mounted on this tube so as to restupon the balls in the plate24,. andis driven *bYrZL bevelipinion 26 that is mounted on'a shaft 27,that is journaled horizontally across the top of the machine in bearings28, that are securedto the cross bars .22. This shaft 27 extends beyondthe frame and is adapted to be driven by power, and is provided with apulley 29 or other suitable power transmitter. providedwitha reducer 30,upon the lower portion of which is secured the lower discharging end ofa conical ore feed hopper 31,.the upper portion of the reducer beingwithin the hopper. A tube 32, which surrounds the upper portion of thewater pipe, is screwed into the upperend of the reducer, and the body ofthe reducer between its threaded ends is. provided with openings 33,

which form a communication betweeirthe lower end of the hopper anchthefeed tube 20. A conical disk 34:, wl1-ich, I call. thelfeed The upperend of the feed tube20 is 1 plate, is secured to the lower end of thetube 20, and revolves with it, and its under side is formed with orefeeding flukes 35, which extend from it in proximity to the surface of aconical shaped circular plate 36, which I term the ore distributingplate, which is secured to the water supply pipe 18, and is a stationaryplate.

To one of a plurality of depending arms 37, on the feed disk, I secure asmall hopper 38, from the discharge end of which a spout 39 extendstoward the water pipe 18, and is arranged to discharge into a conicalhopper 40, from the lower end of which extends a cylindricalsample-receiving chamber 41, which surrounds the water pipe at its lowerend, where it is screwed into the reducer 16, the opening 17 of whichconnects the chamber with an outlet pipe 15 extending from the elbow 14.A reservoir 42, surrounds the sample chamber, over the upper end ofwhich a cover 43 is supported,'but so as not to rest upon the top of thereservoir, and pipes 44 extend from the water pipe 18, through thehopper 40 and cover 43, and into the reservoir 42, and these pipesconvey water from the supply pipe 18 to the reservoir 42, whence itoverflows upon a circular copper plate or disk 45, which forms thebottom of the reservoir and sample-receiving chamber. This disk isslightly conical in form, and of slightly less diameter than the innertank 7, the top of which is only a slight distance below the disk 45.Brackets 46, connected to the disk and to the said tank, serve tosupport the disk. In practice, the disk 45 is coated with quicksilver,whereby any particles of gold which may be in the ore discharging uponthis disk, will be collected thereon, and thus saved.

The outlet or discharge pipe 15 extends at an oblique angle through andbeyond both of the tanks 3 and 7, and discharges continuously, samplesof the ore flowing through the machine, on the outside of the tanks,into a suitable receptacle. The water supply pipe 18, the sample chamber41, and its discharge spout, the tanks 3 and 7, and the water reservoir42, are stationary, and do not rotate, being atfixed to and supported bythe frame or the other members of the machine.

To the depending arms 37 of the revolving feed disk, I secure a circulardepending band 47, which converges in the form of the inverted frustumof a cone, and to the lower edge of this band is secured a pair ofcircular converging screens, which are so arranged that a suitable spaceis left between them. The outer screen 48 is of fine mesh, and slightlyshorter than the inner screen 49, which is of coarser mesh, the finenessand coarseness of the mesh of these screens being dependent upon thecharacter of the ore.

size from which falls upon the plate 45, ad-

jacent to the reservoir 42, while the smaller particles pass throughthis screen and onto the outer screen 48, where the finest productpasses through and falls upon the plate 45, while the coarser particlesdischarge from the end of the screen and fall upon the plate 45, betweenthe inner ring or circle formed by the coarsestparticles of ore, and theouter ring formed by the finest particles of ore, the position of thisintermediate product on the plate 45 being determined by the length ofthe screen 48.

Upon the upper edge of the band 47, is secured a plurality of outwardlyprojecting ears 51, and to the bars 25 are secured a pair of oppositelypositioned depending spring arms 52, which extend into the path of theears 51, and as the band, with the screens 48 and 49 revolves, the ears51 will successively engage the said arms 52, which will yield under thepressure upon them, and as the ears escape the arms, the band, with thescreens, will be shaken or vibrated in such a way as to dislodge the oreand cause it to pass through the screens, thus not only facilitating theaction of the screens but preventing clogging of the same.

A plurality of blades 53, are secured in any suitable manner upon thewater pipe 18,

within the hopper 31, and as these blades are stationary, the ore in thehopper will be stirred up as the said hopper revolves, so that it willfeed easily and quickly through the openings .33, of the reducer 30,into the feed pipe 20.

The outer tank 3, is provided on opposite sides with overflow outlets54, having spouts 55, which lead to suitable settling tanks, and thelower edges of these openings are on a level with the peripheral edge ofthe disk 45, so that when the tank 3 is filled with water to the levelof the outlets 54, the edge of the disk 45 will touch the surface of thewater.

The operation of my improved ore feeding, screening, sampling,classifying, and

separating machine is as follows: Ore crushed to a consistency of fromabout 20 to 80 mesh, is fed into the feed hopper 31, from which it flowsinto the feed tube 20, through the openings in the reducer 30, and fallsonto the fixed distributing disk 36. This feed tube and its feed disk 34rotate and the flakes on the under side of the feed disk move the oreoutward on the surface of the sta tionary distributing disk, and itfalls from the edge of the distributing disk onto the deflector 50,whence it falls upon the inner or coarse screen 49, the smallerparticles tank 7 is led to concentrating tables.

passing through and onto the outer screen 48, while the oversizedischarges from the lower edge of the inner screen, this material beingthe coarsest product. The next coarsest product is the oversize from theouter screen, and the finest product is that which passes through theouter screen. The ore falls in three concentric rings upon the plate ordisk 45, the inner ring being the coarsest ore and the outer ring thefinest ore, and over the disk a continuous sheet of water flows, beingthe overflow from the reservoir 12, which is supplied from the main pipe.18, through the small pipes 44. The water flows from the reservoir overthe disk and on to the body of water in the tank which is on a levelwith the said disk, and

as the edge of the inner tank is slightly below this level it followsthat this tank is also full of water. As the water flows otf of theplate 415, it carries the ore with it, and the finest particles floatout through the overflow openings 5 l,'and through the spouts v tosuitable settling tanks, not shown. The next coarser products organguematter. float beyond the edge of the inner tank, and settle in theouter tank, while the coarsest product passes over the edge of the plate45, and settles immediately in the inner tank, and the material in thetanks may be discharged when necessary, through their respective valves.The floating slimes product of the ore that overflows out of the tank 3,on top of the water, is thus separated from the coarser product, and isled into suitable tanks, and settled or otherwise recovered, while thecoarser mineral product of the The gangue product if devoid of mineralparticles, is run to waste, but if it should con tain a concentratingmaterial it is also run over concentrating tables. Most all of therebellious sulfid and tellurium ores contain copper, zinc, lead, rubysilver, gold, bismuth, and other valuable metals, that when crushed andpulverized to form 20 to 40 mesh contain a. considerable percentage offine slime flour-like product that carries rich values in these metals,and it is for the purpose of saving this floating slimes product that Ihave especially designed my cone bined ore feeding, screening,classifying, and-separating machine, which possesses the additionaladvantage of enabling the operator to secure continuously, as themachine is doing its regular work, a sample of the ore that is passinginto and through the machine. This sample is gathered by the revolvingspout, which rotates under the ore falling from the distributing disk,and discharges it into the sample tube, from which it flows out throughthe spout l5 into abox, from which it can be assayed as often as desiredto determine the value of the ore passing through the machine, and

as this sample is taken automatically from every part of the downwardstream of ore, it is a true index of the value of the ore.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is:

1. In an ore feeder, classifier, and separator, the combination with asupporting frame, of a pairof inverted conical tanks positioned onewithin the other, with a space between them, a water supply pipeadjacent to said tanks, a water distributing disk above said inner tank,a conically arranged screen positioned to feed its oversize to the apexportion of said conical disk, and to allow its screened product to droponto the water flowing over said disk from said water supply pipe, anore feeding mechanism above said screen and water distributing disk.

2. In an ore dressing machine, the co1nbination with a supporting frame,of a pair of conical tanks, one within the other, sup ported by saidframe, a feed hopper above said tanks, a revoluble feed spout connectedto the discharge end of said hopper, an ore distributing disk below saidfeed spout, an inverted conical shaped screen below said feed disk andspout, a water distributing disk below said screen, arranged to receiveboth the'oversize and the screened product from said screen, meansincluding a water supply pipe for flowing a stream of water over saidwater distributing disk, and means for drawing the settled ore productfrom said tanks and the surface water and ore from said tanks.

3. Inan ore drissingmachine, the combination of a water supply pipe; areservoir surrounding the lower end of the pipe, and adapted to befilled therefrom; a conical plate beneath the reservoir and adapted toreceive the overflow from the reservoir; a conical screen above theplate; an ore distributer above the screen, and means for feeding ore tothe distributer; a tank below the conical plate; a second tanksurrounding said tank and of greater depth, having overflow opening on alevel with the conical plate; and valves for emptying said tanks.

at. In an ore dressing machine, the combination with a water supplypipe, of a circular plate at the lower end of the pipe and concentrictherewith; a circular reservoir upon said plate surrounding the pipe andadapted tobe supplied therefrom, said plate being adapted to receive theoverflow from the reservoir; a conical, revoluble screen above saidplate; a circular ore distributor above the screen; a feed hopper and atube 4 connecting the hopper with the distributer; a conical tanksurrounding the circular plate, having overflow openings on a linetherewith; a conical tank with said first tank, the upper ed ge ofwhichis below the water level of the first tank; a space being left betweensaid tanks; and valves for emptying said tanks. I

5. In an ore dressing machine, a vertically disposed water supply pipeclosed at its lower end; a feed hopper surrounding the upper portion ofsaid pipe;a feed tube extending from said hopper and surrounding thepipe; an ore distributer, comprising a conical plate secured to thewater pipe below the lower end of the feed tube, and a conical plate onthe end of the feed tube, and means for rotating said hopper, tube andupper conical plate; a conical ore and water receiving plate at thelower end of the water pipe; a circular reservoir above said platesurrounding the water pipe, and adapted to be supplied therefrom, and tooverflow upon said plate; a conical screen surrounding the reservoir andarms connecting the screen with the revoluble member of the oredistributer; a hopper within the screen; a tube extending from saidhopper to the bottom of the reservoir and surrounding the Water pipe,and means for supporting the lower end of the pipe and for connectingsaid tube with an outlet; a sampling spout connected with the screen andadapted to catch ore from the distributer and discharge it in the hopperwithin the'screen; a conical tank surrounding the ore and waterreceiving plate, having overflow outlets on a line with said plate; andan inner conical tank, the upper edge of which is below the water levelof the outer tank.

6. In an ore dressing machine, the combination with a circular platform,a circular reservoir adapted to overflow upon the platform, and a watersupply pipe connected with the reservoir; of a conical screen comprisinginner and outer members of different meshes; an ore distributer abovesaid screen, comprising upper and lower conical members; means forconnecting the screen with the said upper member; a hopper; a feed tubeconnecting the hopper with the distributer and means for rotating thehopper, the tube, the upper member of the distributer, and the screen inunison; conical tanks below the circular platform, arranged one withinthe other, the outer tank having overflow outlets on a level with saidplatform, the top of the inner tank being below said level; and valvesfor emptying said tanks.

7. In an ore dressing machine, the combination of a conical platform; acircular reservoir adapted to overflow upon said platform; a conicaltank surrounding the platform, having overflow outlets on a level withthe platform; a conical tank adapted to be submerged within the outertank, and of slightly greater diameter than the platform; a water supplypipe closed at its lower end and supported within the inner tank, andextending through and above the said reservoir; tubes connecting saidpipe with the reservoir; a hopper surrounding the upper portion of thepipe; a feed pipe depending from the lower end of the hopper, andsurrounding the water pipe, and

means for rotating said feed pipe and hop-,

connected with the rotatable member there'- of, comprising inner andouter members of different mesh, and of different lengths.

8. In an ore dressing machine, the combination with an outer conicaltank, having overflow outlets; a conical tank adapted to be submergedwithin said outer tank; a support in said inner tank; an upright pipeupon said support, having a branch extending out through said tanks; :1reducer on the end of the upright pipe, having openings through itssurface; a water supply pipe closed at i. s lower end, which is threadedin the upper end of the reducer; a tube surrounding the lower end ofsaid pipe and the reducer; a conical copper platform surrounding saidreducer, and supported upon the inner conical tank; a circular reservoirsurrounding said tube and resting upon the platform, and pipesconnecting the water supply pipe with the reservoir, whereby the same isfilled and overflows upon the platform; a conical screen above theplatform, comprising inner and outer members, of different lengths andmesh; an ore distributer above the screen, comprising a fixed and arotatable conical member in operative relation; arms connecting thescreen with the rotatable member; a feed hopper; a feed pipe connectingthe hopper and rotatable member and surrounding the water supply pipe; aconical hopper in the screen connected with the tube surrounding thelower end of the water pipe; and means for rotating the feed hopper, thefeed pipe, the upper member of the distributer, and the screen.

9. In an ore dressing machine, an upright water supply pipe, having itslower end closed; a tube surrounding the lower end of said pipe, and asupport for the pipe, having an outlet communicating with the tube; areservoir surrounding the tube; a conical, amalgamating platform beneaththe tube and reservoir, and pipes connecting the reservoir and watersupply pipe, the water from said reservoir being adapted to overflowupon the said platform; a rotatable conical screen above the'reservoir;an ore distributer above the screen, comprising a fixed and a rotatableconical plate; a feed hopper surrounding the upper portion of the watersupply pipe; a feed pipe connecting the feed hopper and ore distributerand surrounding the pipe; means for rotating sald hopper, feed pipe andupper member of the distributer; conlcal tanks arranged tributer, anddischarge it into the tube surrounding the lower end of the water sup- Py p p 10. In an ore dressing machine, the combination with a conicalamalgamating platform; means for flowing water over the same from thecenter outward, and a circular ore distributer comprising a fixed,conical plate, and a rotatable conical plate, in operative relationthereto; and means for feeding ore to said distributer; of a rotatable,conical screen beneath the distributer and concentric with the axis ofthe same, comprising an inner and an outer screen arranged with anintervening space, the inner screen being or coarser mesh than the outerscreen, while the outer screen is of less length than the inner screen;and tanks below said amalgamating platform, for receiving the productfrom said platform.

11. In an ore dressing machine, the combination of a pair of conicaltanks arranged one within the other, the inner one being submerged; acircular amalgamating platform above said tanks of less diameter than ithe inner tank; and means for continuously overflowing said platform; arotatable con ical screen above said platform, comprising inner andouter members of different lengths and mesh; a circular ore distributerabove the screen; and means for feeding ore to the distributer.

12. In an ore dressing machine, the combination with a circularamalgamating platform; a tubular receptacle in the center of saidplatform, and an outlet pipe from said receptacle; a reservoirsurrounding the tubular receptacle,and means for supplying water to saidreservoir to form a continuous overflow upon the platform; a rotatableconical screen above the platform; a circular ore distributer above thescreen; means for feeding ore to the distributer; a spout connected withsaid receptacle for catching portions of the ore falling from thedistributer, and having its discharge end over the tubular receptacle;and conical water tanks below the amalgamating platform, one within theother, the inner tank being of slightly greater diameter than the saidplatform, the

outer tank having overflow outlets on a level with the platform, whilethe top of the inner tank is slightly below the water level of the outertank.

18. In an ore. feeding machine, the combination with a supporting frame,of a tube vertically mounted therein; a feed hopper at the upper end ofthe tube; a gear wheel on said tube, and a power driven pinion in meshwith the gear wheel; a water supply pipe extending through the hopperand tube and closed at its lower end; an ore distributer comprising twocontiguous conical plates, one of which is secured to the lower end ofthe tube, and the other to the water supply pipe; a conical screendepending from the rotatable member of the distributer; ears projectingfrom the frame of said screen, and spring blades in the path of saidears, whereby the screen is vibrated during its rotation a samplereceptacle surrounding the lower end of the water supply pipe; areservoir surrounding the sample receptacle, and pipes connecting thewater supply pipe and reservoir, whereby the reservoir is caused tocontinuously overflow; a circular amalgamating platform beneath andconcentric with the reservoir, which is adapted to receive the overflowfrom the reservoir and the ore from the screen; a spout connected withthereceptacle' for catching portions of the ore from the distributer,and having its discharge end over said sample receptacle, water tanksbelow the platform arranged one within the other, for receiving theproduct of the platform; and means which form a support for the lowerend of the water supply pipe and an outlet for the sample receptacle.

14. In an ore dressing machine, the combination with a conical tank,having overflow outlets; a conical tank within the first tank, andadapted to be submerged; of a circular amalgamating plate supported on alevel with the said overflow outlets, and of less diameter than theinner tank; means for continuously. flowing a sheet of water over saidplate from the center outward; a circular ore distributer concentricwith said plate; a conical screen below said distributer which separatesthe ore falling upon the plate into three concentric rings of varyingdegrees of fineness; means for rotating the screen; and means forimparting vibrations to the screen during its rotation.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HOWARD G. KING.

Witnesses G. SARGENT ELLI TT, ADELLA M. F owLE.

